Cavitus Ultrasound Trial at Constellation’s Gonzales Winery
Ξ December 11th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |
I had the great pleasure of witnessing the first trial run of Cavitus’ new barrel cleaning system at Constellation’s Gonzales Winery (formerly Blackstone) in Gonzales, California. In attendance from Gonzales Winery was General Manager Hugh Reimer (left) and winemaker Scott Dahlstrom (right). Present from Cavitus was Andrew Yap (center), not only Director of Oenology and Industry Marketing, but one of Mr. Reimer’s former teachers, and Field Engineer Howard Wittwer. In addition to these distinguished gentleman were representatives from three major California wine brands the identities of which Mr. Yap has asked me not to reveal pending their permission. I was present at the invitation of Mr. Yap and with the assent of Mr. Reimer.
Mr. Reimer opened Gonzales Winery for others in the industry to watch the Cavitus beta prototype in action. Having successfully performed in Australia earlier in the year, the unit recently arrived from trials in New Zealand. This is the first time the system has been demoed in the United States. As may be read in my three-part interview series, essential background reading for this story, Mr. Yap was in the Napa/Sonoma area in October laying the ground work for a number of demos planned for this month at a few of the larger wineries located there.
The entire barrel cleaning/sonication process was performed by one person, in this instance, Field Engineer Howard Wittwer. This is not to say such a unit is optimally run with only a single operator but it does amply demonstrate the simplicity of each step of barrel sonication. Further, the beta prototype is complete in itself. It possesses all the requisite elements as a stand-alone unit. The titanium soniprobe, the hot water heater, recycling/recovery pumps, conveyer belt, cable runs, etc. However, the complete unit is, in part, for the purposes of demonstration. A winery with its own hot water system, etc., it was explained, would not need to purchase those elements of the unit. They could use the already installed tech of their own winery’s infrastructure.
As with the wineries in Australia and New Zealand, three specific barrel trials/experiments were performed at Gonzales Winery. One was the sonication of known brett infected barrels (which will later undergo laboratory analysis to test for any live cultures), a second was the removal of tartaric crystal buildup, and the third was a lower-power sonication of brett infected wine while still in barrel. Of the latter experiment, the effort is to determine both the elimination of live brett cultures and whether any disruption of base-line phenolics might occur. Only a laboratory assay to be conducted at a later date will prove conclusive. Standard 60gal/227 liter barrels were used (American oak, in this case), though puncheons could easily have been substituted without modification of the beta unit.
With respect to tartaric buildup, Gonzales Winery cleaned a one year old barrel according to their own protocols and then passed another through the beta prototype. I am neither qualified nor inclined to make a finding, but I will say the sonicated barrel appeared virtually free of surface crystals (pictured above) while the conventionally cleaned barrel was still well-covered. Despite not having taken a pic of the conventionally cleaned barrel (my bad) my observation was in accord with the other visitors and Gonzales Winery itself.
A word about the hot water heater and filtration system. The optimal temperature for sonication is 60 degrees centigrade or 140 fahrenheit, heat sufficient to soften the cell walls of target organisms so that cavitation easily breaks them up. Indeed, one could sonicate at room temperature but it would simply take far longer to kill brett etc. Now, Cavitus’ published studies show that, with respect to both brett and tartaric build-up, sonication takes five minutes to complete for a red wine barrel. Draining the water takes one and a half minutes. The water loses a couple of degrees before it is pumped through filters and returned to the hot water heater. The hot water heater pictured at the left holds 1000 liters/264 gallons. The filters can take in excess of 60 passes before requiring replacement. Of the filters, a 1 micron pore-size membrane is proving popular. A one and a half micron membrane filter is sufficient according to Mr. Yap, but he says winemakers seem to nevertheless prefer the smaller size out of an abundance of caution.
White wine barrels, according to Mr. Yap, can take more than 10 minutes to clean. Under review at Gonzales Winery were 2006 barrels. And even then tartaric crystals obviously remained. The problem is pressing owing to the incorporation of yeast cells at crystal nucleating sites. This matter remains a challenge for Cavitus no less than for wineries using conventional methods.
I spent a couple of hours in the Gonzales Winery. I have never seen anything like it. One gentleman told me they had purchased 5000 American oak barrels this year. The room where the demo took place, multiple football fields in size, was stacked with barrels three storeys high as far as the eye could see. There was nothing out of place. The facility was spotless. Fresh air flowed through, maintaining an agreeably cool temperature. Recently the winery installed the biggest solar array in the state and of any winery in the world. I couldn’t help but imagine the water savings alone the Cavitus technology might bring, never mind the reduction in the use of sulfur and associated barrel cleaning chemicals.
In my opinion Cavitus has hit upon a revolutionary barrel cleaning process. It is as green as anything I’ve yet read about, certainly in the wine industry. All they must do now is work on a more portable unit, one suitable for the smaller winery.
Upon leaving Gonzales Winery I bid Andrew Yap farewell, promising to catch up with him at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium this January, the 27th through the 30th. Cavitus will be there.
Special thanks to Hugh Reimer and Scott Dahlstrom for their hospitality.
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